Laramie Splits Home Games Against Rock Springs

The Laramie Lady Plainsmen knocked off an undefeated team, while the Plainsmen were blown out by Rock Springs at home Friday night.

In a match-up of two ranked teams, fourth-ranked Laramie topped third-ranked Rock Springs 53-42 in girls’ action. It was the first loss of the season for the Tigers.

Laramie (8-2) built a big lead thanks to a hot shooting first half, but had to hold on for victory.

Rock Springs (7-1) held an early 8-3 lead before the Lady Plainsmen rolled to a big lead. Laramie tied it at 8-8, took the lead at 10-8 and sprinted away the rest of the half. LHS out-scored the Tigers 24-12 in second quarter. Their lead ballooned to 16 points three times in the period. It was 38-23 at halftime.

Laramie shot 54 percent the in first half and forced 15 Tiger turnovers. Part of that was 5-of-9 from 3-point range.

The second half was a different story. Rock Springs fought back and held the Lady Plainsmen to six points in the quarter. They pulled within five points on two different occasions. LHS regained control and pulled out the win at the free throw line. Laramie made only two field goals in the second half, but went 11-of-18 at the charity stripe.

Head coach Laura Pollard admitted the third quarter shook them up a little.

“They (Rock Springs) came out on fire. Their coach mentioned to me, this was a tough game defensively with what we put on them. At halftime I said, they’re going to come out, and they did. At the same time, I thought in the fourth quarter they got composed, and they did what they needed to do.”

LHS scored the first basket of the game on a hook shot by Frank Crum. It was all Tigers after that. They led 16-8 after the first period. The lead grew to 21 points in the second before Rock Springs had a 40-22 edge at half. The Tigers pushed it to 30 points before eventually winning by 21.

Laramie (3-7) was able to get a few stops in the third quarter before a 14-0 spurt by the Tigers ended that frame and put the game out of reach. Hautala scored 16 of their 20 points in that quarter.

Plainsmen head coach Travis Brown said they play poorly.

“We didn’t bring the energy needed. I think we’ve taken steps forward further than we actually have. We’ve got to turnaround tomorrow; can’t really reflect too much on where went wrong today. Hopefully we can move forward tomorrow and start thinking about how to get ready for Green River.”

Reid Baty led LHS with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Laramie shot 29 percent from the field, but did out-rebound Rock Springs 41-35.

The Tiger shot 45 percent from the floor and went 16-of-21, 76 percent, at the foul line.

What’s Next

Both Laramie teams will return to the court Saturday against Green River. The doubleheader will feature the boy’s game at 11:30 a.m. followed by the girl’s match-up at 1 p.m.